A neglected area of public health is Capital Campaign Mental Health. Every year, nearly 1 billion people struggle with mental disorders, 3 million people die from the harmful use of alcohol, and one person commits suicide every 40 seconds. The COVID-19 pandemic is now affecting the mental health of billions of people around the world.
Still, only a small percentage of the world’s population has access to quality Capital Campaign Mental Health care. More than 75 percent of people with mental, neurological, and substance use disorders do not receive any treatment at all in low- and middle-income countries. Additionally, stigma, discrimination, punitive legislation, and human rights violations are widespread.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the limited access to quality, affordable mental health care in the world, and especially in humanitarian emergencies and conflict situations, has been further limited. There have been several causes of the epidemic, including infection and illness in long-stay facilities like care homes and psychiatric institutions; a barrier to meeting face-to-face; mental health workers who have been infected with the virus; and the closure of mental health facilities to make way for care facilities for people with COVID-19.
Move for let’s invest Capital Campaign Mental Health
WHO, along with United for Global Mental Health and the World Federation for Mental Health, is calling for a massive increase in mental health investments for this year’s World Mental Health Day. In September, a campaign called Move for Mental Health: lets invest will be launched to encourage public action worldwide.
World Mental Health Day provides the world with an opportunity to address the historic neglect of mental health, said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. It has already begun to affect people’s mental well-being due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The consequences will be far-reaching on a health, social, and economic level if we do not scale up our mental health investment now.
Health workers and other frontline workers, managers of health facilities, and people from all walks of life whose lives have been impacted by the pandemic have received guidance and advice from the World Health Organization in recent months. Countries have found innovative ways of providing mental health care and are embarking on initiatives to strengthen psychosocial support in response to disruptions in health services. The vast majority of mental health needs remain unmet due to the scale of the problem. In the years leading up to the pandemic, mental health promotion, prevention, and care were chronically underfunded.
Countries spend just 2% of their budgets on Capital Campaign Mental Health
A country’s health budget for mental health is only 2% on average. The amount of international development assistance for mental health has never exceeded 1% of all health-related development assistance. Even though there is a return of US$ 5 in improved health and productivity for every US$ 1 invested in scaling-up treatment for mental disorders such as depression and anxiety.
World Mental Health Day: an opportunity to commit
In support of World Mental Health Day, we will all have the opportunity, primarily through online campaigns given the ongoing pandemic, to take concrete actions in support of our mental health. The role of employers is to implement employee wellness programs; the role of governments is to establish or scale up mental health services; and the role of journalists is to explain what more can and must be done to make mental health care a reality for all.
Dr Ingrid Daniels, President of the World Federation for Mental Health, said, “It has been nearly 30 years since the first World Mental Health Day was launched by the World Federation for Mental Health.” In many parts of the world, there has been an increasing openness to talking about mental health during that time. Now we need to do more than talk about it. Mental health care systems need to be built in a way that is appropriate and relevant for today’s – and tomorrow’s – world.
“Because so many people lack access to good quality, appropriate mental health services, investing is more important than ever,” said Elisha London, Founder and CEO of United for Global Mental Health. This year’s campaign is open to everyone, everywhere. Whatever your experience with Capital Campaign Mental Health, whether you have lived with mental illness, know someone who has, are an expert on mental health, or simply believe that investing in mental health is the right thing to do, I urge you to move for mental health.
Key events Capital Campaign Mental Health
United for Global Mental Health: The 24-hour March for Mental Health
Participants from around the world will be invited to participate in a virtual march on 9 October. Participants in the Speak Your Mind campaign already active in 19 countries will participate in a livestream that will last 24 hours. Additional, global partners that are leading and coordinating mental health-related work organize hour-long sessions on specific issues such as mental health among young people, mental health among the elderly, and Capital Campaign Mental Health among LGBTQ+ people. Alzheimer’s Disease International and Human Rights Watch are both confirmed partners. Mental health issues will be brought to light, stigma will be broken, and policy will be changed through the March. Using online filters that will be released in advance of the march, the public will be able to “add their voice” and take part in the March.
WHO: The Big Event for Mental Health
A global online advocacy event on mental health will be hosted by the World Health Organization on World Mental Health Day, 10 October, for the first time ever. WHO will showcase the work that is being done around the world to reduce mental illness and alcoholism and drug abuse at this event – the Big Event for Mental Health. World leaders and mental health experts will discuss mental health and how more needs to be done with the WHO Director-General. World-renowned musicians will speak about their motivation and perform about the importance of mental health. The event will include stories from athletes who have been affected by mental illness, including depression and anxiety.
An award for a mental health film will be presented during the Event, a newly-created category in WHO’s inaugural Health for All Film Festival.
World Federation for Mental Health: education and awareness raising
Under the Royal Patronage of HRH Princess Iman Afzan Al-Sultan Abdullah of Malaysia, the Federation’s President launched the 2020 World Mental Health Day Campaign Educational Material “Mental Health for All: Greater Investment – Greater Access” on 1 September. Following this, the Federation’s youth section will lead 45 days of awareness-raising activities centered on a global online discussion forum and art exhibit as part of its Call to Action 2020.
